>>> TWITTER ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK
IT TOOK DOWN A SERIES OF VIRAL
TWEETS AFTER FINDING OUT THE
ACCOUNTS WHICH POSTED THEM WERE
FAKE.
NOT ONLY WERE THEY BOGUS BUT THE
TWO MOST POPULAR ACCOUNTS WERE
MADE TO LOOK AS THOUGH THEY WERE
RUN BY BLACK MEN WHO RECENTLY
LEFT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN
SUPPORT OF DONALD TRUMP.
THIS MAY BE PART OF AN SCHEME BY
UNKNOWN ACTORS TO MISLEAD VOTERS
AND DISSUADE THEM FROM VOTING
FOR JOE BIDEN.
REMOVING THESE ACCOUNTS IS
TWITTER’S LATEST EFFORTS TO
COMBAT MISINFORMATION ON ITS
PLATFORM.
THE PROBLEM STILL REMAINS OF
SYSTEMATIC TARGETING OF BLACK
VOTERS TO DAMPEN VOTER
ENTHUSIASM THEY MIGHT HAVE.
WITH ME NOW TO DISCUSS THIS AND
THE RISE OF THE DIGITAL VOTER
SUPPRESSION IS NBC NEWS REPORTER
BEN COLLINS AND RASHAD ROBINSON,
A SPOKESPERSON FOR THE VOTING
WHILE BLACK PAC.
GOOD TO SEE YOU BOTH.
BEN, WHAT’S ACTUALLY GOING ON ON
TWITTER AND WHAT HAS TWITTER
DONE ABOUT IT?
>> THERE WERE TWO MAJOR
ACCOUNTS, I WOULD SAY.
THESE ACCOUNTS HAD FIVE
DIFFERENT TWEETS, 10,000
RETWEETS, THAT’S ENORMOUS
ENGAGEMENT.
THEY WERE POSING AS BLACK PEOPLE
WHO HAD JUST RECENTLY SWITCHED
FROM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY,
RECENTLY, BECAUSE OF BLACK LIVES
MATTER, OVER TO DONALD TRUMP’S
SIDE, THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING
TO VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP.
THE PROBLEM IS THESE ARE NOT
REAL PEOPLE.
ONE WAS A STOCK PHOTO.
THE OTHER WAS A DUTCH MODEL WHO
I CALLED.
HE SAID HE WAS VERY UPSET HE WAS
BEING USED IN THIS PROPAGANDA
CAMPAIGN.
THESE ARE NOT REAL HUMAN BEINGS.
BUT ON TWITTER YOU CAN
SOCK-PUPPET YOUR WAY TO BIG
SUPPORT.
WE’RE SEEING, JUST LIKE 2016, A
LOT OF ARTIFICIAL MESSAGES BEING
PUSHED BY PEOPLE ALIGNED WITH
THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN, PEOPLE WHO
ARE PRO-TRUMP GENERALLY, PUSHING
THESE IDEAS THAT MAYBE IT’S OKAY
TO BE A BLACK PERSON WHO
SUPPORTS DONALD TRUMP AND HERE’S
PROOF FROM THIS FAKE ACCOUNT.
IT’S NOT JUST THIS SPECIFIC
MESSAGE.
THE PRESIDENT THIS MORNING
TWEETED 20 DIFFERENT TIMES THIS
ONE FAKE POLLING ACCOUNT, THIS
ONE FAKE -- IT’S CALLED POLL
WATCHER 2020, IT HAD 2,000
FOLLOWERS UNTIL HE JUMPED ON IT
TODAY.
THIS IS A TARGETED STRATEGY BY
THE CAMPAIGN.
>> I’M LOOKING AT THE TWEETS
FROM THIS MORNING, MORE THAN 70
TWEETS NOW FROM THE PRESIDENT
THIS MORNING, AND THE FIRST
BUNCH OF THEM, FIRST BATCH OF
THEM ARE POLL WATCH 2020.
RASHAD, THERE’S TWO PROBLEMS
HERE.
YOU ARE ACTUALLY A BLACK
ACTIVIST AND YOU’VE ACTUALLY
BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR A LOT OF
PRESSURE ON THESE SOCIAL MEDIA
COMPANIES TO DO BETTER.
BUT BUZZFEED HAD AN ARTICLE IN
WHICH IT SAYS REAL BLACK
ACTIVISTS WORRY THAT THE FAKE
ONES WILL DROWN THEM OUT ON
TWITTER.
THE QUOTE IS FROM SOMEBODY WHO
SAID, WE DON’T HAVE BOTS, WE
HAVE REAL BLACK PEOPLE, THE
DANGER IS THAT THESE ACCUSATION
SUSPECT THAT FACEBOOK AND
YOUTUBE LATCH ONTO IT AND IT
UNDERMINES OUR ABILITY TO HAVE A
BLACK POLITICAL DIALOGUE.
IT’S BAD THAT THESE BOTS ARE OUT
THERE IMPERSONATING BLACK
PEOPLE, BUT IT’S ALSO
POTENTIALLY BAD WHEN THEY GET
SHUT DOWN BECAUSE REAL PEOPLE
MIGHT GET SHUT DOWN IN THE
PROCESS.
HOW DO YOU THINK THIS THROUGH?
>> I MEAN, IT’S A NIGHTMARE
SCENARIO, BECAUSE THESE SYSTEMS
HAVE BEEN SET UP, THE ALGORITHMS
HAVE BEEN SET UP TO ACTUALLY GET
THE EXACT RESULT THAT WE’RE
GETTING.
AND SO SINCE 2016, AND EVEN
BEFORE, WE HAVE BEEN RAISING
THESE ISSUES FOR BOTH TWITTER
AND FACEBOOK.
AND THEN WHEN THESE ISSUES COME
UP, WE’RE THE ONES THAT HAVE TO
GO THERE, HIGHLIGHT IT, POINT
OUT THE PROBLEMS, RAISE THESE
ISSUES.
THE SHOOTER IN WISCONSIN, THE
GROUP THAT HE WAS PART OF WAS
FLAGGED OVER 400 TIMES AND
NOTHING WAS DONE.
THESE ARE NOT MISTAKES, AS MARK
ZUCKERBERG WOULD LIKE TO SAY.
THESE ARE LIKE DEEP PROBLEMS
THAT ARE BAKED INTO THE
PLATFORM.
YOU KNOW, AND IT’S ALSO PART OF
JUST THE INCENTIVE STRUCTURE OF
HOW THESE PLATFORMS ARE SET UP.
WE DON’T HAVE REAL RULES OF THE
ROAD AND REGULATIONS.
WE WOULD HAVE A LOT OF POISONED
FOOD ON OUR SHELVES AND OUR
GROCERY STORES IF WE DIDN’T HAVE
INFRASTRUCTURE THAT HELD
COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE.
BUT WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING IS WE
GET THIS POISEONOUS MESSAGING
THAT INCITES VIOLENCE, AND ALL
THE COMPANIES DO IS SAY, WE’RE
WORKING REALLY HARD, WE’RE
TRYING, JUDGE US BY OUR EFFORTS.
AND THEN AT THE END OF THE DAY,
WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THE RESULTS.
IF THE RESULTS WERE A LOT OF
FOOD THAT WAS POISONING US, WE
WOULDN’T CARE HOW HARD THE
COMPANIES WERE WORKING, WE WOULD
JUST CARE WE WERE BEING
POISONED.
SO OUR POLITICIANS, OUR LEADERS,
AND THESE COMPANIES HAVE TO DO
MORE.
AND THESE COMPANIES HAVE TO BE
HELD TO A HIGHER STANDARD.
>> LET ME ASK YOU ABOUT WHAT
EFFECTIVE THIS HAS, BECAUSE
RECENT POLLING, NBC/"WALL STREET
JOURNAL OF THE POLLING INDICATES
SUPPORT FOR JOE BIDEN AMONGST
AFRICAN-AMERICANS IS ALMOST
EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS FOR HILLARY
CLINTON, IT WAS 89% FOR HER, 88%
FOR JOE BIDEN, DONALD TRUMP HAS
SEEN NO GROWTH, AS 8%.
BUT THE ISSUE ISN’T THAT MOST
BLACKS SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATIC
CANDIDATE.
THE SOCIAL MEDIA STUFF AFFECTS
TURNOUT AND ENTHUSIASM.
>> ABSOLUTELY.
THIS IS ALL ABOUT TURNOUT AND
ENTHUSIASM.
AND WHEN YOU CAN SORT OF CUT AT
PIECES OF THE POPULATION IN
STATES LIKE WISCONSIN OR
PENNSYLVANIA, YOU CAN DO
TARGETING MESSAGING THAT HITS AT
CERTAIN COMMUNITIES.
YOU CAN CREATE DOUBT AND SOW
DOUBT
DOUBT, YOU CAN PUT LOTS OF MONEY
BEHIND THIS.
THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY
WE STARTED THIS CAMPAIGN, THIS
IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY MANY
CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS LIKE
COLOR OF CHANGE, THE NAACP, THE
LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE FOR CIVIL
RIGHTS AND OTHERS, HAVE BEEN
FIGHTING AND PUSHING ON THESE
PLATFORMS FOR YEARS.
WE’VE PUT FORWARD POLICIES AFTER
POLICIES FOR THEM TO ADOPT.
FACEBOOK DID A CIVIL RIGHTS
AUDIT THAT WALKED THROUGH ALL OF
THE PROBLEMS ON THE PLATFORM,
ALL OF THE WAYS, IT WAS THEIR
AUDIT, AND THEY STILL HAVE NOT
IMPLEMENTED THE VAST MAJORITY OF
THE THINGS THAT WERE CALLED OUT.
EVEN WHEN THEY IMPLEMENT THINGS,
THEY THEN DON’T ENFORCE IT WHEN
IT COMES TO DONALD TRUMP OR EVEN
IN THE CASE OF WISCONSIN, WHERE
THEY WEREN’T FLAGGING THINGS
THAT SHOULD HAVE VIOLATED THE
FOUR CORNERS OF THEIR POLICY.
AND THEN WE SEE THESE SORT OF
BILLIONAIRES GET ON TV AND TELL
US THAT THEY’RE REALLY SORRY.
AND SO I THINK WE’RE IN THIS
HUGE MOMENT WHERE WE’RE SEEING
NBA PLAYERS SPEAK OUT, WE’RE
SEEING WNBA PLAYERS AND
ATHLETES, WE’RE SEEING SO MANY
PEOPLE SPEAK OUT.
I SAY TO THE PEOPLE WHO WORK AT
THOSE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS,
WHAT WILL YOU SAY TO YOURSELF
FIVE, TEN, 15 YEARS FROM NOW, IF
YOU CONTINUE TO MAKE THESE
BILLIONAIRES MONEY AND YOU DID
NOTHING TO STAND UP FOR JUSTICE?
IF YOU CONTINUE TO GO TO WORK
EVERY DAY AND DID NOT DO THE
WORK TO STAND UP AGAINST THE
VERY REAL ATTACKS, HOW MANY MORE
OF US HAVE TO BE HURT, KILLED,
HOW MANY MORE OF US HAVE TO HAVE
OUR RIGHTS TAKEN AWAY, BEFORE WE
STAND UP AND ACTUALLY PUT
SAFETY, INTEGRITY, AND SECURITY
OVER GROWTH AND PROFIT?
IT CAN’T JUST BE ABOUT HOW MUCH
MONEY YOU MAKE.
IT HAS TO BE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO
FOR THE REST OF THIS COUNTRY.
>> BEN COLLINS, I GOT 30
SECONDS, BUT WHEN I SEE WHATEVER
IT IS, 68 TWEETS BEFORE 8:00
A.M. FROM THE PRESIDENT, MY
FIRST INSTINCT IS TO ASK YOU
WHAT YOU MAKE OF THIS.
>> UMM, LOOK, HE HAS A MESSAGE
TO GET OUT THIS MORNING,
SPECIFICALLY ABOUT PORTLAND.
THE WORRY FOR YEARS AND YEARS
WAS THAT THESE WHITE MILITIAS
AND PEOPLE ON THE LEFT WOULD
START FIGHTING IN THESE POP-UP
CIVIL WARS THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTRY, AND YOU KNOW WHO THAT
BENEFITS.
AND THE PRESIDENT KNOWS WHO THAT
BENEFITS.
SO HE HAS TO GET SOME MESSAGES
OUT THERE ABOUT POLLING AND HE
HAS TO GET MESSAGES OUT THERE
ABOUT WHAT HE CONSIDERS TO BE
LAW AND ORDER.
THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HE’S DOING
THIS MORNING.
AGAIN, THEY MAY NOT BE THE
ACCOUNTS OF GENUINE PEOPLE.
WE DON’T KNOW THAT, IN PART
BECAUSE THEIR IDENTITIES ARE
MASKED.
REALLY THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU
ASSUME THAT SOMEBODY IS REAL,
EVEN AND MAYBE ESPECIALLY IF THE
PRESIDENT IS TWEETING IT.
>> YEAH, AND ONE OF THESE DAYS
YOU AND I WILL HAVE A
CONVERSATION WE’VE HAD IN PERSON
MANY TIMES, THAT WE SHOULD HAVE
ON TV, ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU
CAN ACTUALLY DO SOME FAIRLY EASY
THINGS TO FIGURE OUT WHETHER A